Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC Raises Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC raised its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,054 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC’s holdings in Linde were worth $441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Linde by 1,160.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.11.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 over the last 90 days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Linde Stock Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ LIN opened at $452.56 on Friday. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $408.65 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The company has a market capitalization of $213.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.25, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $452.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $448.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.75 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.57%.

Linde Profile

Linde plc operates as an industrial gas company in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South Pacific. It offers atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and rare gases; and process gases, such as carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, electronic gases, specialty gases, and acetylene.